WT plans $150 tuition hike

Increase to help offset state budget cutbacks

Deputy Masonry of Amarillo employee Jerry Sixberry applies moisture sealant Monday to the eternal flames columns at West Texas A&M University. The columns have been moved to the Old Main entrance off Fourth Avenue in Canyon as part of an Old Main reclamation project.

West Texas A&M University officials plan to raise tuition by $150 per semester for the 2012-13 school year to help offset state budget cuts and meet increasing expenses such as faculty and staff raises.

WT President J. Patrick O’Brien and Gary Barnes, the university’s vice president of business and finance, unveiled the proposed increase Monday during a student hearing at the Amarillo Center inside the Chase Tower in downtown Amarillo.

“We’re not happy any more than anybody else who pays the fees,” Barnes said.

The proposed increase will raise about $9 million, according to university figures. The hike would provide $1.6 million in faculty and staff raises, cover higher lease payments at the Amarillo Center and cover new teaching positions in the civil and environmental engineering programs, among several other items.

The Texas A&M University Board of Regents will vote on the proposed tuition increase in May.

O’Brien said WT’s faculty and staff make lower salaries than their counterparts in many other schools.

“We want to provide a salary increase, which we’re going to have to retain them or attract other faculty and staff to replace them,” he said.

The average annual salary for WT’s assistant, associate and full professors is $63,867, according to university figures from the summer.

In contrast, the average salary for those same positions at similar-sized schools in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana is $71,114, according to 2010-11 figures from the American Association of University Professors.

WT’s in-state undergraduate tuition is $152 per semester credit hour, with $102 of that charged by WT and $50 by Texas. An undergraduate Texas resident enrolled in 15 semester credit hours pays an estimated $3,215 when other student fees are included, according to figures on the university’s web site. Tuition revenue makes up a third of WT’s total budget.

Last year the Texas Legislature approved $26.7 million for WT this school year, down from $30.9 million last year, according to figures presented Monday. Lawmakers approved $26.5 million for WT for the 2012-13 school year.

WT’s overall revenue budget this year is $127 million. Nearly half, or 47 percent of that figure, goes to personnel expenses such as salaries.

WT planned to meet cuts this year by eliminating 15 vacant positions and monitoring expenses such as utilities and travel. Barnes has said the university doesn’t expect making layoffs next school year.

Jose Rodriguez was the only student who attended the hearing. He asked O’Brien if the university could look at increased enrollment for revenue.

While increased enrollment does increase revenue, the funds gained are small, O’Brien said.

“For a 1 percent-point increase in enrollment, and if market share stays the same and distribution and credit hours stay the same, that generates about $200,000,” he said.

Increased enrollment could generate about $9 million if it went up 8 percent, O’Brien said.

“And that’s not going to happen,” he said.

WT figures show enrollment was at 7,886 students during the fall, up from 7,843 at the same time in 2010. That year-to-year increase is a less than a 1 percent hike.

WT’s tuition this year was the same as last year. WT’s tuition and fees were among the lowest of Texas’ 37 public universities, according to information provided at the hearing. WT is tied with Tarleton State University at 25 on the list.

“We would still be one of the least expensive universities in Texas,” O’Brien said. “But if you look at what’s going on across the nation, you know they’re going to increase tuition (across the country).”

Rodriguez, a senior majoring in management, said he supports the proposed tuition hike because it will help offset budget cuts.

“Budget constraints affect everybody,” he said. “I think it’s a great school, and we have to tighten our belts somewhere.”